The Routine of a Cycle Tourist

Our two week training trip - cycling 1,000km from Plymouth in the south west of England to Edinburgh up in Scotland - is nearly over and it's been a delightful reminder of the daily practices on a cycle tour.

We're on our new bikes, carrying a tent, a camping stove and all the clothes we need to stay warm.

The day's routine is simple: once packed up in the morning, we cycle until we have to stop for food or to check the map. We couldn't find our road map when we packed and all the ones in the shops are too big to fit on the front of our bikes so we've just been navigating with our phones. Sometimes using Google Maps to plot a route for us, other times following a Sustrans National Cycle Network, or else just following our noses.

For food, we just fill our panniers with snacks and stop whenever we're hungry. The cycle tourist can consume prodigious volumes and I am constantly amazed at how much food I can shovel into my mouth without ever feeling sated.

Each day we aim to cycle about 50-miles. Sometimes we have a particular destination in mind - if a friend is offering a spare room for example - but usually we just pedal until it gets dark or we get tired.

The one thing we need before setting up a camp is water so we usually pop into a pub or knock on a door and ask to fill up a large bladder. This knock on the door is often combined with asking if the owners know anywhere that we could pitch a tent - we just need some flat ground and, where wilderness is not available, it's best to ask for permission.

Then it's tent up, sleeping bag out, strike up the stove with a fire steel and get a continual stream of hot food and drinks on the go to keep us warm, fed and hydrated until bed time.

As morning arrives, the routine restarts for another day...

South West Cycle - Photo Slideshow

Here's a collection of photographs from our first week on the road, pedalling from Devon to Lancashire.

If the slideshow above doesn't work then you can view it here on Flickr.

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This is a training trip for our 12-month cycle to Australia. Read more at www.thenextchallenge.org.

Cycling Plymouth to Edinburgh

1,000km from Devon to Scotland. That's the plan for our first little training trip.

It's less about training in any physical sense - we'll get fit as we go - and more about giving ourselves a little test before we set off on 'The Big Trip' this summer.

Check that we really do want to spend all of that time in the saddle. Check that the reality is as much fun as the dreaming. Check out the various bits of kit we've acquired, see which glove combinations work best, what underwear's the least uncomfortable for day after day of pedalling, practice our tent routines and get to know our bikes.

But also, it's about having a bit of fun.

The planning was, as ever, minimal. We booked one train to Plymouth and a second train back from Edinburgh two weeks later. We reasoned that we could happily make the ~600 miles in between in that time and left the rest to chance.

It's been colder than we'd anticipated when booking those trains tickets all those months ago. And the UK's prevailing southerly wind has decided to do an about turn and drive into us head first which has made for slow progress and a tiring experience.

But, one week into the trip, it has already been a great adventure. We've cycled through five-foot snow drifts, swum wild on a whim, camped in a wildlife reserve, been invited into people's houses, climbed hills that stretched further than our eyes could see and descended them faster than our minds could process. We've followed beautifully serene national cycle routes, winding their way through the countryside without much thought given to miles and hours, and got our heads down on busy dual carriageways, clock watching and racing against time. We've enjoyed the unique deliciousness of food served hot inside a tent at the end of a long day's cycling and the relative indulgence of a hot tea served within the shelter of a cafe.

In short, these eight days have provided a microcosm of everything I would hope a world tour will be. Another week will - touch wood - see us arrive in Edinburgh. Another four months will see us depart the UK...